Carton flap hold-down device



1957 F. F. MELVIN CARTON FLAP HOLD-DOWN DEVICE Filed May. 9, 1955 IHEHTOR, Fmhali F Mclwm n ted St tes Paten CARTON FLAP HOLD-DOWN DEVICEFrancis F. Melvin, Elwood, Ind. Application Ma 9, 1955, Serial No.506,981 3 Claims. or. 24-41 This invention relates to a device in thenature of a fork which is inserted in opposite corners of a carton forthe purpose of holding the top closing flaps downwardly against thesides of the carton to permit filling of thecarton with bottles or cansand the like, particularly on assembly lines where the carton is carriedby suitable conveyors.

While. the invention is not limited hereto, it finds particular. useinthe situationwhere glass bottles or jars are shipped'into a packingplantin fiberboard cartons; the enclosing top flaps are opened; thecontents of the carton placed on a conveyer line and the carton itselfthus emptied is sent around the filling station to the end thereof sothat the filled bottles may be replaced in that same carton. In thehandling of the carton, it is necessary that the flaps be turneddownwardly so as to be out of the way and not interfere in the conveyingof the carton from one station to another. The structure of theinvention is inserted at opposite corners to compress the flapsdownwardly on the outsides of the carton, and by reason of theparticular formation of the structure, the structure may serve as meansfor supporting superimposed cartons one above the other since there is aflat area provided on the top side of the carton hold-down device,primarily for lifting the device from the carton after it has beenrefilled, but secondarily for supporting superimposed cartons withoutthe danger of the cartons tipping from one side to the other by theslipping of a corner down into the under carton.

An important feature of the invention resides in the fact that there isa rigid relatively horizontally disposed upper plate from which outerflap engaging fingers extend downwardly at right angles thereto, theplate serving in conjunction with the rigid fingers as a means forpreventing the spreading apart of the fingers one from the other.

Further important objects of the invention are to provide a structurewhich will fit snugly in the corners of the carton to be out of the wayduring packing or refilling operation, and at the same time will beeasily removed when desired. Moreover another purpose of the inventionresides in the fact that the structure requires some little pull toremove it from the hold-down position so that it is not easily disturbedor loosened during the travel of the carton on a conveyer or during thefilling operation.

These and many other objects and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent to those versed in the art in the following description of oneparticular form of the invention, in which as illustrated by theaccompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of a structure embodying theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a view in end elevation;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view; and

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of an opened carton with the inventionapplied thereto.

The structure constituting the invention is made out 2 i of a ratherrigid piece of metal to have three spaced apart tongues 10, 11, and 12.All of these tongues lie in the same plane, and integrally extenddownwardly from a top plate 13 which is turned at rightangles to theplane of these fingers.

In order to make clear the relative proportioningof these fingers, theyare approximatelyseven-sixteenths to one-half inch in width, and thespacing between the fingers, is of like dimension, The edges of thefingers 10, 11, and 12 which are in opposition one with the other suchas the edges 14, 15 and 16, 17 are parallel and merge one with the otherrespectively through substan-l tially semi-circular arcs 18 and 19 whichare tangent with the underside of the plate 13.

As will be noted in the'drawing, Fig. l, the central finger 3 is longerthan the two outer fingers 10 and 12 i in proportioning the variouselements are suitable for which are of equal lengths as measureddownwardly from the plate 13. The extension of the finger 11 below theouter fingers 10 and 12 is approximately five-eighths of an inch. Thedimensions given. by way of example use on a carton which is made of asingle corrugated core covered by an inner and outer sheet. While thewidth ofthe plate 13 is not critical, it ispreferably held to a width ofapproximately a half inch as measured outwardly from the plane of thelegs 10, 11, and 12.

As indicated in Fig. 4, the carton generally designated by the numeral20 has end and side flaps 21 and 22. These flaps are folded down againstthe ends and sides of the carton respectively and then one of thedevices generally designated by the numeral 25 is brought up to a cornerof the carton to have the tongue 11 started downwardly on the inside ofthe carton to be followed by the other fingers 10 and 12 coming down onthe outsides of the flaps 21 and 22 thereby compressing them against theends and sides of the carton. The device is pressed downwardly until theplate 13 bears across the top folds of the flaps so that the device 25is thus firmly seated. Then a second device 25a is inserted diagonallyacross the carton in that opposite corner 26 with its center tongue 11entered downwardly on the inside of the carton and the two fingers 10and 12 carried downwardly on the outside of the flaps. Thus the plates13 are substantially horizontally positioned diagonally across thecorners as indicated in Fig. 4. These outturned plates 13 serve as meansnot only to support the fingers in vertical alignment, but also serve aslifts in order to pull the devices from the holddown position. Inaddition as above indicated, cartons may be stacked one above the otherwith these plates 13 extending across the corners of the under cartonstending to prevent the cartons from tilting.

It is to be emphasized that these fingers 10, 11, and 12 aresubstantially rigid, that is they are not elastic in the nature ofsprings, and are preferably made out of a sheet metal blank of a gaugesomeplace near dimension of about one-sixteenth of an inch. The verticaledges 15 and 16 will be in compressive contact with the side and end ofthe carton, whereas the edges 14 and 17 will be in compressive contactwith the outside of the flaps 21 and 22.

In order to emphasize the rigidity of the structure, ribs 26, 27, and 28are formed in the upper portions of the respective legs 10, 11, and 12and carried around over the bend 29 to extend onto the plate 13, andmerge into a longitudinally disposed rib 30. By reason of thisconstruction, the legs 10, 11, and 12 are made to be extremely resistantto bending on the bend line 29. Also the plate 13 is made to beextremely resistant to bending intermediate its ends.

Therefore while the invention has been shown and structural variationsmaybe employed particularly *in' re'- spect to dimensions, withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, and it isnot intended thatthe invention be limited to that precii'sei'form'beyondf-theliinitations' which maybe imposed by the'followingelaimsIclaim: 1 j 1. For a carton having end and sidewalls and cor respondingclosure flaps hinged to said walls, a 'hold-' down device for holdingthe flapsin -open condition against the outside'faces of the walls ofthe carton comprising a rigid 'basefplate, and three spaced apartfingers rigidly extending 'froma marginal ejd'ge of the 'platein acommon plane and .at approximately right angles to the plane of saidplate, the centermost finger being longer than the two .other fingers,each of said fingers being planar and of widths substantially exceedingtheir thicknesses, the spacing apart of said fingers beingthat, whensaid centermost finger is positioned diagonally across and inside of acorner of and in side edge abutment with the side and end walls at saidcorner, theopposing edges of said two other'fingers compressibly bearagainst the outersides of the corresponding end .and side flaps andmaintain them compressibly against said carton end and side walls.

'2. For a carton having end and side walls and corresponding closureflaps hinged to said walls, a flap holddown device for maintaining theflaps in full open condition against the outer faces of said wallscomprising a flat sheet-like plate, and three spaced apart flatsheetlike fingers extending in a common plane from a marginal edge ofsaid plate, said plane being at substantially right angles to saidplate, and said plate and said fingers being substantially rigid andrigidly interconnected, the fingers and plate being approximately of thesame width and the spacing apart of the fingers one from the other beingapproximately a distanceequal to the width of the fingers, thecentermost of said fingers being longer than the two other fingers.

3. The structure of claim 2 in whichsaid finger spacing distance isapproximately equal to the combined thickness of a carton wall and itshinged flap as measured on a line substantially at forty-five degreesthereacross.

References "Cited in thefile of.tl1is patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.22,617 Huppert .Mar. 13, 1945 1,050,407 Verrette Jan. 14, 1913 1,494,644Tausig May .20, .1924 1,540,394 Hall June 2, 1925 1,895,656 Gadke Jan.31,1933 2,021,619 Waters Nov. 19, 1935 2,375,374 Lepp May 8, 1945

